{"id":154438,"date":"2024-05-09T11:29:36","date_gmt":"2024-05-09T15:29:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/rwddev\/?p=154438"},"modified":"2024-05-10T10:02:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T14:02:09","slug":"yvonne-heath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doppleronline.ca\/huntsville\/yvonne-heath\/","title":{"rendered":"Sound and sight: Yvonne Heath – A voice for change and sharing stories"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For all our perceived differences, no matter our status, political opinions, background, height, weight, or ethnicity, we will each face, in our own time, our own individual mortality. Despite this universal, inevitable destination that all are headed toward, few, if any of us, rarely take the time to discuss, plan for, or reflect on the significance of the most profound experience of our lifetime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After years of nursing, Yvonne Heath realized that acknowledging our own death and that of our loved ones opened up a new, expansive insight into the foundations of living itself. In so doing, she marvelled that life, our life, becomes richer, more finely tuned, and more sensitive to the beauty and wonder that we are immersed in and participate in.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discovery led her to a new professional path that inspired her to write and publish her first book, Love Your Life to Death (How to Prepare for End of Life So You Can Live Fully Now), now in its second edition. More importantly, Heath became a much sought-after speaker and lecturer, granting her the opportunity to share not only her story but also meet with countless others who have, in turn, shared theirs.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a medical professional, Heath never thought she\u2019d write a book, much less travel the talk circuit, but she felt impelled to share her discoveries, changing not only her life but also readers and lecture attendees.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI asked people, are we really well-prepared for grief and transitions and death and all the messiness in between? Do we know how to support ourselves and each other? And everyone’s just like, what? You know, we’re all so busy, right? We talk, everyone talks about how busy they are. We don’t have time… to think about this, to reflect on this, to be proactive, or figure out what we believe about life and death. I mean, some people have, some people haven’t [had a chance] to plan our end of life. What will I do in a crisis?\u201d Yvonne carefully explains. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd it’s funny because there are so many transitions in our lives that we know are coming. As we age, there are different transitions that happen mentally, physically, and emotionally as we are in our career, and then someday, maybe not by our choice, our job will change, or we will retire. Our children will grow up and leave home. That’s the plan. Doesn’t always happen that way. And yet, we’re so ill-prepared. And then, we’re in this deep crisis and in the deep trenches of grief. And we don’t even… recognize ourselves. And I think the biggest thing is we don’t realize that grief and joy can coexist. In 2014, I just became so anxious personally and professionally that I needed to do something different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like so many elements in modern societal life, we seem unable to talk to each other in meaningful, solution-focused dialogue about concerns and issues affecting all of us. Death in Western culture seems to be something we choose not to acknowledge as a legitimate aspect of our overall well-being.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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